Musical instrument



(No Model.)

B. ENRIQUEZ. MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

No. 527,675. Patented Oct. 16, 1894. I

WITNESSES:

@ASM "T9 A TTOHNEYS.

m: Nnlmi IEIERS 110.. PHOTD-UTNQ. wnsumcwu. I)v c4 UNITED STATES A PATENT OFFICE.

EVARISTO ENRIQUEZ, OF SAN JUAN BAUTISTA, TOBASCO, MEXICO.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 527,675, dated October 16, 1894.

Application filed October 30. 1893. Serial No. 489,588.

1b all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EVARISTO ENRIQ UEZ, of San Juan Bautista, in the State of Tobasco, Mexico, have invented a new and useful Improved Musical Instrument, (which was patented in Mexico July 11, 1893, No. 463,) of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to an improvement in stringed musical instruments, of a class that are played upon by picking the strings with the fingers, and has for its object to provide an instrument of the class mentioned, which is adapted for the execution of music upon it, by the joint action of the fingers, mouth and tongue of the performer, effecting the rendition of melody that partakes of the nature of strains emitted from a guitar and an aeolian harp.

To this end my invention consists in the construction and combination of parts as is hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 represents the device in position for the execution of music upon it. Fig. 2 is an enlarged top View of the improvement. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional View on the line 3-3 in Fig. 2. Fig. A is a transverse sectional view on' the line 44 in Fig. 2; and Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view on the line 55 in Fig. 2. a

The body A of the instrument is preferably formed from light tough wood, that is not liable to warp or split when thoroughly dry.

The form of the body A is that of an elongated billet, which is solid and formed with the grain of the material composing it, its shape from the point 0 to the lower end a being cylindrical, and flattened on the normally upper side b, as represented in Fig. 5. From the point 0 to the upper end the body a is tapered gradually, the upper side being flattened and in effect a continuation of the upper side of the lower portion of the body previously mentioned.

At 0, there is a slight curvature of the body produced on the lower side in a direction away from the top surface I), thus providing a head (No model.) Patented in Mexico July 11, 1893, No. 463.

for the device, which is rounded into oval form on the end, as represented in Fig. 2.

At 6, a piece of hard wood, is secured in a cross channel formed on the lower side of the 5 5 head of the'instrument, said inlaid strip and the body being perforated at points correctly separated, for the reception of the strings g.

Near the lower end a of the body A, an excavation i is made in the latter at its center of width, leaving two walls i, remain, one at each side, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5. The sides 4), are suitably perforated for the reception of the keys m that are of the usual form employed for thestretching of guitar or banjo strings, and these keys are perforated at proper points to permit the strings g, to be inserted and wrapped thereon sufficiently to hold their inserted end portions from relaxing when stretched by the rotatable movement of the keys.

A fret bar n, is secured on the top surface of the head of the instrument, near the perforations formed for the strings g, and a similar bar 12, is secured on the surface 6 near the-cavity t' in said body, and the strings are drawn over the fret bars, and are thus maintained at a proper distance above the surface I), of the body A.

A number of lower fret bars 0 are attached at proper intervals upon the surface I) of the body A, between the fret bars n, n, these intermediate bars 0, indicating the proper points for finger pressure in the production of music on the instrument.

On one side of the body, a, a small removable peg p is projected for an engagement of a finger of the performer, when this is needed in the rendition of certain musical notes and on the lower end of the body a rest pin r, is 0 secured to longitudinally extend from its axial center; while at the upper end of the body a loop 8 is attached in which the thumb of the operators right hand is inserted to further steady the instrument.

After the device is tuned by an adjustment of the keys m, the performer when about to play on the instrument grasps the body A lightly with the left hand, as represented in Fig. 1, and with the other hand holds the loo back of the head of the instrument at his mouth, close to his slightly open lips, and extends the body A of the device away therefrom, resting the pin r, on a table I), or other support as shown in Fig. 1. The fingers of the right hand that are near the mouth of the performer, are now dexterously moved, to pick or scrape the strings so as to cause a vibration of the same, while the fingers of the left hand are moved at different points of distance from the head of the instrument, pressing them on the proper frets, to execute a tune on the strings, while the proper distension and contraction of the cheeks and movement of the lips of the performer together with a vibration of his tongue help in im parting aeolian harmony to the sounds produced by the Vibrating strings.

If desired the number of strings may be changed, but as shown and described, charming music can be rendered upon the instrument provided with the number of strings shown.

The peg p is of service when it is necessary to use the fingers of the left hand to rapidly press the frets near it, as then one finger is engaged with the peg, which enables the performer to sustain the instrument and move the fingers over a limited range of frets, rapidly and with precision. WVhen the peg is not needed it may be removed, and thus allow the left hand of the operator to be slid along the body of the instrument to engage a wide range of the frets 0.

Having thus fully described. my invention,

EVARISTO ENRIQUEZ.

\Vitnesses:

GREGO. BASTAR, DOMINGO DORTA. 

